Calotype

A process for making paper negatives discovered in 1840 by W.H. Fox Talbot. As the first process that involved both a negative and a positive, it was the forerunner of today's photographic processes. High quality writing paper was sensitized with potassium iodide and silver nitrate solutions and exposed in the camera. The paper negative was processed, then printed onto salted paper. A feature of prints made from calotype negatives is the lack of clarity in the details and a mottling of tones, caused by the fibres in the paper showing through.